This article introduces the atmosphere and stores on Yuigahama street in Kamakura.
What is Yuigahama street?
It is a street that crosses from east to west , connecting the intersection Hase Kannon to Geba, the intersection with Wakamiya-oji Avenue. The distance is about 1.5 km, a good length for a walk. It is a little narrow, but there are sidewalks on both sides and they are flat, so you can visit with a stroller.
This time, I walked from the Geba intersection toward Hase Kannon.
Let’s walk down Yuigahama street.
As you all know, Kamakura is a city with a long history.
Yuigahama street is an old road that has existed since before the Middle Ages and is still an arterial road that traverses the Kamakura area from east to west. At that time, Yuigahama street was much closer to the sea and had the atmosphere of the Warring States Period.
From Geba to Rokujizo intersection
A few dozen meters from the Geba crossing, there is an Enoden railroad crossing. The whitish building on the right corner on the picture below is a grocery store, Hamayu Shoten store. The front of the store is lined with fruits such as tangerines, persimmons, and apples, making it a convenient place to buy a few things while taking a walk. Since it is a grocery store, it has a complete lineup of vegetables as well.
Here is a view of Hamayu Shouten store from the front. Right next to the store is the entrance to Onari-dori street. A magnificent gate stands there.
A few hundred meters from the railroad crossing, there is an intersection called Rokujizo. There are six Jizo statues here as memorials to those who were executed as a result of their trial at the nearby courthouse.
There used to be a dry cleaner on this corner, but a new building has recently been constructed. A new hamburger shop called “Nagisa’s Burger” has opened on the first floor of the organic-looking brown-walled building on the far right in the photo at left.
The area from Geba to Rokujizo is designated as the “Yuigahama-dori Landscape Formation District” to protect the historic character of the shopping street, and buildings within 5m of the road boundary must be landscape-friendly.
This is an image of the landscape formation standards shown by Kamakura City.
The rule is that buildings must be set back at least approximately 9 meters in height (on the fourth floor) to balance with the width of the street. By doing so, it reduces the sense of oppression when walking down the street. The height of a two-story building will be roughly 6m (red dotted line in the figure), and if the building designs are aligned on that line, a sense of unity will be created even if the design of the front of each building is different.
From Rokujizo to “The Bank” bar
The reason why you feel comfortable walking along Yuigahama street is because of this careful consideration of the landscape. As you can easily see from the Youtube video I share on this blog, the height of the buildings is kept low, so the sky is widely visible.
The old building in the middle of the photo above is a bar called “The Bank”. As you can expect from the exterior, the inside has a retro and relaxed atmosphere. 500 meters along the street to the left of The Bank, you will arrive at Kamakura Seaside Park, and beyond that is Yuhigahama Beach. If you prefer to see the ocean rather than strolling down the street, push on down the street to the left here.
The building behind the red postbox in the photo above is “Bread, Espresso, and Yuigahama Shoten” bakery. In fact, this bakery used to be a tobacco shop until a few years ago.
The left side image was once a tobacco shop, and the right side image is converted to a bakery. The “TABACCO” sign and the original window still remain in the new bakery. This bakery does not sell cigarettes, of course, but it is a playful renovation with the former facade.
From “The Bank” to Bungaku Kan entrance intercestion
After a short walk, you will see a building with an exterior wall made of wood. The building was designed by the architectural firm of Yuyuki Tanabe. Compared to when the building was completed, the color of the exterior walls has become duller and blends in with the town. The are a curry restaurant and a craft beer pub in the building.
Walking Yuigahama Street in Kamakura East to West
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